


expectations

by homeformyheart_jen



Category: Choices: The Elementalists (Visual Novel), The Elementalists (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Meet the Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28053630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homeformyheart_jen/pseuds/homeformyheart_jen
Summary: celeste meets beckett’s parents and it goes about as well as expected.
Relationships: Beckett Harrington/Main Character (The Elementalists)
Kudos: 7





	expectations

**Author's Note:**

> author’s note: this fic was a request after the brief scene i wrote in my other beckett x f!mc fic, the sunshine of life.  
> copyright: all characters owned by pixelberry studios.  
> series/pairing: the elementalists – beckett harrington x f!mc (celeste russell)  
> rating/warnings: none  
> word count: 2.4k  
> summary: celeste meets beckett’s parents and it goes about as well as expected.

**_expectations_ **

celeste cradled her throbbing toe as she sat on the bed with beckett standing in front of her. “why wouldn’t you give me more of a heads up? i have nothing to wear and i have to get a gift! i can’t show up empty-handed!”

beckett rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “it’s not that big of a deal, is it?” celeste gave him a pointed look. “okay, i kind of… forgot.”

“how do you forget about your parents wanting to have dinner with me?!” celeste’s eyes widened in disbelief. as oblivious as her boyfriend could be sometimes, he usually wasn’t this dense.

beckett let out a long sigh. “well, you know how i struggle with their expectations and there’s lot of pressure now that we’re a year away from graduating to make sure i pick the right career.”

celeste lowered her foot and crossed her arms over her chest. when she finally spoke, her voice shook with vulnerability. “and i’m not exactly someone who would meet their expectations, right?”

“i’ve never really had a girlfriend before, so i can’t say for sure,” beckett said thoughtfully. he glanced down and noticing celeste’s crestfallen expression, crouched down to meet her at eye level. “but that doesn’t mean i wouldn’t be proud to introduce you to them as my girlfriend. i love you so much, celeste.”

she tried to smile to reassure him. “i love you too, beckett. i just… i don’t really know the attuned world very well but it seems like your family name and reputation is really important to your parents. and for all they know, i may as well be attuneless. i can’t exactly tell them i’m half-source.”

beckett sat next to her on the bed and wrapped his arm around her waist. celeste leaned into his embrace, laying her head on his shoulder so her nose so she was up against his neck. she breathed in his comforting scent.

“you are the most amazing and impressive person i’ve ever met. they know that you mean a lot to me. they just want to get to know you,” beckett said, pulling back slightly to kiss her hair.

“will katrina be there?” celeste asked hopefully. having a friendly face in the room would definitely make things less daunting.

“i’m not sure actually. last i heard she was somewhere in the amazon doing research,” beckett said.

celeste sighed and stood up. “since i don’t have much time to get ready, help me figure out what to wear that’s going to offend your parents the _least_.”

beckett followed her to the closet and wrapped his arms around her from behind. he bent down and kissed her cheek. “that dress i bought for you when we got lunch with katrina last year should be more than fine. you look radiant in pretty much anything.”

“yeah, yeah, flattery will get you everywhere, beckett harrington. i’m still annoyed you didn’t tell me until last minute.”

beckett peppered her face and neck with kisses in response until she shooed him away so she could change into the outfit in peace. when she emerged from the closet dressed in the yellow dress and blue coat he bought her a year ago, his eyes lit up and traced the way the outfit curved around her body perfectly.

celeste ran an air spell down the coat and dress to remove any wrinkles before looking up at beckett. “this is the best i’m going to be able to do on short notice. what do you think?”

he put a hand on her waist and pulled her toward him. she stumbled forward and he steadied her with his other hand, leaning in to capture her lips into a steamy kiss. celeste felt warm when they broke apart, beckett resting his forehead against hers. “you make me wish we could be late,” he murmured softly. “you are so beautiful.”

celeste nuzzled his nose with hers. “flatterer. now let’s get going. i really don’t need to get on your parents’ bad side by being late.”

beckett had already manipulated the portal in her dorm room to take them directly to the harrington estate. the arrived in a matter of seconds, which was certainly not enough time to mentally prepare for the evening ahead. she would never admit this out loud to her friends, mostly because they wouldn’t be able to relate, but she wished they had traveled the attuneless way. it would’ve taken infinitely longer, but at least it would have bought her some time to prepare.

celeste stared up at the large, mahogany doors with the harrington family crest etched at the top and swallowed nervously. she fiddled with the buttons on her coat and tried to take slow, deep breaths. beckett slid his hands into hers and squeezed it gently before directing a metal spell with his other hand toward the door. celeste’s eyes widened as she noticed the metal inside the door turn and creak internally before opening slowly to let them in.

he took her coat and handed it to a servant before taking her hand and leading her down the long hallway. they passed what looked like a foyer, a sitting room, a study, another sitting room, or maybe it was a parlor, and a stairwell before celeste realized that she would be utterly lost in a place like this if she were alone. why anyone would need this many sitting rooms was beyond her.

when they finally arrived at the dining room, she noticed that his parents were already seated. mr. harrington appeared just as imposing as she’d imagined, with hair as dark as katrina’s except for streaks of silver running through it. her gaze shifted to his right, where beckett’s mother was sitting with her hands delicately tucked under her chin, eyes not-so-subtly inspecting celeste from head-to-toe. her shoulder-length brown hair was curled and celeste noticed that beckett must’ve inherited her cheekbones.

“ah, they’re finally here. come join us, children,” mrs. harrington said, her tone friendly but without any real warmth.

celeste took a deep breath and followed beckett, taking care to avoid eye contact with his parents as he pulled out her chair for her before settling comfortably to his father’s left. she felt a little relieved that she wasn’t sitting directly across from either parent but made sure to keep a smile on her face. regardless of whatever she felt inside, she needed to remember to smile through it all.

“hi, i’m celeste. it’s very nice to finally meet you, mr. and mrs. harrington,” celeste said, making an effort to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

“it’s very nice to meet you too, my dear. and you can call me alice. i found it odd that our beckett has been dating you for over a year and yet this is the first time we’ve actually gotten to meet you,” mrs. harrington replied; her gaze, however, was focused on beckett.

beckett cleared his throat. “we’ve been busy, mother. with school, internships, and celeste is on the thief team as well.”

“well, at least you seem well-rounded, miss russell. i will say it’s been great to see penderghast as back-to-back thief champions. and you’re a sun-att, correct?” mr. harrington asked. as far as she could tell, he was genuinely curious.

“yes, that’s correct. my secondary attunement is metal. both definitely come in handy in the thief arena,” she said cheerfully, glad to have some common ground with at least one parent.

his mother let out a soft hum before turning her attention to the food that had arrived. celeste stared at what she presumed was a salad in front of her but wasn’t sure given the mix of strange looking ingredients that she hadn’t seen before.

“what’s wrong, dear? salad not to your liking?” alice asked.

celeste quickly grabbed her fork and held it over the plate. “no, it’s just, uh, there are a lot of ingredients i don’t recognize,” she said quickly before taking a delicate bite. she was actually pleasantly surprised at the bright flavor.

“that makes sense given your attuneless upbringing. although truthfully, most people in the attuned world wouldn’t have tried any of the food you’ll get to have tonight. we imported special ingredients from around the world.”

“oh, well, the quality is certainly unmatched. everything looks absolutely delicious,” celeste said as the servants brought out the next course.

while the food was good and unlike anything she’d had in the attuneless world, she didn’t think it was _that_ special. and judging by the pink tips of beckett’s ears, he didn’t appreciate his father’s comments either.

the rest of the dinner went by relatively smoothly, with peppered bits of small talk here and there. most of the questions weren’t too intrusive, and she found it relatively easy to ignore the lightly condescending remarks sprinkled here and there. they were finishing up dessert when they finally got to the topic of what they were going to do after penderghast.

“i haven’t really decided yet. i think i’d probably like field research and working with magickal plants,” celeste answered honestly when they asked her what fields she might be interested in. she had given it some thought as she prepared to declare her major last year. working with plants would allow her to spend more time outdoors and with nature, which is where she felt most like herself.

alice let out a soft tsk of disapproval, barely audible over the sound of her setting her spoon back down on the table. celeste looked away and saw that mr. harrington was giving her a thoughtful look and she tucked her hands between her thighs to keep from squirming under his gaze.

“well, it’s not a very compelling field, but to each their own, i suppose. we have high hopes for beckett to live up to the harrington name, and i’m sure you understand your role in supporting him.”

celeste jaw fell open slightly. they weren’t seriously implying that she should be a trophy wife? “i think i understand where you’re coming from, mr. harrington, but with all due respect, beckett and i challenge and support each other to excel in each of our respective fields. i would hope that you’d prefer someone who can match your son in intelligence and drive and not someone who acts as arm candy.”

“arm candy? is that an attuneless phrase?” katrina’s voice broke through the tension in the dining room. “sorry i’m late, everyone! trying to arrange a portal out of the amazon last minute is not as easy as you’d think!”

“kitty kat! you made it after all,” mr. harrington said, his demeanor seeming to morph into that of a doting father as katrina stopped to give him a kiss on the cheek before making her way over to the seat next to her mother.

“of course, i wouldn’t miss a family dinner like this! i’m so glad we all get to spend time together, celeste is practically family after all!” katrina said, giving celeste a subtle wink.

“that seems a bit premature, darling, considering they’re not even out of college yet. plenty of time to find a proper match,” alice said, dabbing the corner of her lips with a napkin.

“she is by far one of the best students i had at penderghast last year. made it very difficult to decide who to nominate for the attuned magickae uirtus award,” katrina said matter-of-factly as she took a sip of her mother’s glass of wine, much to alice’s annoyance.

mr. harrington’s steely gaze shifted to beckett. “i presumed you would be a shoo-in for the award, beckett. but barely beating out someone who didn’t grow up with magick? i’m not sure that’s something to be proud of.”

“with all due respect, mr. harrington, beckett was able to stay on top of his studies while helping me and my friends protect penderghast from a rogue…” celeste’s eyes briefly met beckett’s. “…attuned thieves. the high attuned herself was very appreciative, and you should be very proud of your son.”

beckett cleared his throat before katrina or anyone else could respond. “celeste and i must be getting back, we do have exams to study for.”

mr. harrington gave beckett an understanding nod. “of course.” his gaze flitted over to celeste, who swallowed nervously. “it was nice to meet you, celeste.”

“thank you for the wonderful dinner and for having us. it was very nice to meet you as well,” she said clearly, hoping her voice conveyed the same grace and confidence as katrina’s.

they stood up and were making their way to the front door when they heard katrina’s footsteps speeding toward them.

celeste turned around just in time to catch katrina as she wrapped her arms around her in a huge hug. “don’t worry about those stuffy old busts. you’ve always got an ally in me, celeste. take care of bean,” she winked, before turning gracefully and heading back into the dining room.

once they were safely outside and out of earshot, celeste let out a long sigh. “i suppose that could’ve gone worse.”

beckett gave her a reassuring one-armed hug. “you did wonderfully. i know it’s not easy to deal with my parents, and you still handled them well while being yourself.”

“sure, because that’s what sounds reassuring right now – ‘your boyfriend’s parents may not approve of you but at least you were yourself!’” celeste retorted, rolling her eyes and pulling away from him.

beckett laced his fingers through hers and tugged their joined hands to pull her close. he leaned down to give her a kiss, “believe me, you did well given the circumstances. and i promise i’ll make it up to you.”

“good, because my mom is visiting next week and we have to get lunch with her,” celeste said cheekily, not even bothering to hide her grin.

beckett’s jaw dropped. “what? you can’t just drop that on me last minute! that’s not enough time to prepare! i’ll have to go to the library straight away to make sure i can engage in conversation – what was her thesis at penderghast?” he started walking faster down the sidewalk, half-dragging celeste with him.

celeste giggled and she sped up her pace to keep up with him, allowing him to tuck their joined hands in the pocket of his coat. now she just needed to remember to actually ask theia if she could make it to lunch next week.

**Author's Note:**

> i appreciate any comments you may have - to find this on tumblr, feel free to check out my writing/art reblogs @homeformyheart.


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